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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275065">The One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SanneHale/pseuds/SanneHale'>SanneHale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight Series - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, JaliceWeek21 (Twilight), Soulmate AU, anti-soulmate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:54:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SanneHale/pseuds/SanneHale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because they were soulmates, didn't mean they were meant to be. </p>
<p>Written for Jaliceweek February21.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Jasper Hale/Maria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Jalice Week - February 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I can't believe I'm actually posting something! I loved Jaliceweek in 2020 and really wanted to join the fun. English isn't my first language and this is the first thing I ever dared to post, so feedback is more than welcome. Thanks for reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jasper was glad he finally found her. It had cost him a couple hundred of bucks to have his name and DNA entered in the database, but it was worth it. He finally managed to break things off with Maria and his parents were happy to see him settle down with The One. He was quite satisfied himself. His relationship with Maria, any other relationship really, had been tons of work. Compromises had to be made. Arguments needed to be sorted out. Every day could turn out to be a struggle.</p>
<p>No more of that.</p>
<p>She was The One. No more compromises. No more arguments. No more surprises.</p>
<p>It was Peter who had finally convinced him to settle down with Her. Peter had never been positive about any sort of relationship, but everything changed when he met Charlotte. He could not shut up about it. He was talking about it now, an empty glass in his hand. He was staring across the room, where Charlotte was ordering another drink for them.  </p>
<p>“You can’t imagine how easy it is!” He said for the hundred time. “Just someone who accepts you, who wants exactly the same thing you do!” If Jasper was honest with himself – which he usually tried to avoid – he had to wonder if it hadn’t been Maria who fit that description. They had had loads of fun together. Too much fun, his parents had said – or yelled – countless times when they had to bail him out. But Maria had been terribly hard to please. She had wanted him to be fun – yes – but she had also wanted him to keep a steady job and to pay the bills. She had wanted him to be the toughest guy in town, but got vicious whenever it landed him in jail.</p>
<p>Truth to be told, he wasn’t sure what she wanted from him. He just knew she always longed for something, for <em>something more</em>. He hadn’t figured out what it was. Maybe she hadn’t known either.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>They agreed to meet in a local diner, which was fine by him. He would have proposed a bar, but any place that served beer would do. A bell by the door announced his arrival. He had barely taken a single step inside, when a woman stood up from her seat.  </p>
<p>She was small, thin in the extreme and she almost seemed to dance when she moved towards him. Her straight black hair didn’t quite reach her shoulders. Her eyes were large and dark. She smiled up at him. “You’ve kept me waiting a long time!”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Jasper replied automatically, although he was quite sure he wasn’t late. He was about to check his watch when she laughed.</p>
<p>“Not today, silly!” Her voice was high, almost childlike. She was still smiling like crazy. “It’s just that I’ve been waiting forever to meet my soulmate! Jasper, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>Jasper nodded dumbfounded. He didn’t know her name. He thought he wasn’t supposed to know until the meeting. In their commercials The Soul Search Agency couldn’t shut up about the seeing-a-stranger-across-the-room-experience they offered. Had he missed something? Had they changed their policy?</p>
<p>“Come sit with me,” she said and offered her hand. He took it. What else was there to do? It felt nice. Warm. A promise of something better. And it was so easy! He couldn’t believe he hadn’t done this earlier.</p>
<p>She pulled him along towards her table, still grinning ear to ear.</p>
<p>It must be nice, Jasper thought, to be <em>that</em> happy all the time. Was he really the cause for her smile? She didn’t seem to be the kind of person that held grudges or have temper tantrums like Maria did. And despite the height, they looked <em>nothing</em> alike. That would please his parents.</p>
<p>“I’m Alice, by the way,” she said as he sat across from her. “I’ve just been dying to meet you. Do you know my parents registered me the moment I was born? I’ve literally been waiting for as long as I remember, and my parents were quite worried there was no one for me. I knew you just needed time though! And now -”</p>
<p>“Anything I can get you two to drink?” A waitress had appeared at their table.</p>
<p>Jasper thanked the high heavens for the interruption. How could Alice have been so sure that he existed? Did she mean a hypothetical soulmate? Or did she really refer to him, personally? Should he ask? Or should he just let her talk? That was easier and he <em>did</em> enjoy listening to her voice.</p>
<p>“Tea,” she said.</p>
<p>Did he have to order that as well? As sign of solidarity with his soulmate? He wished she had ordered something stronger; it was what Maria would have done. It was one of the habits his parents had disapproved. Would Alice disapprove as well? It was still pretty early in the day. He just managed to stop himself from laughing. He was here with his <em>soulmate</em>, everything he did was universe-approved.  </p>
<p>“A beer for me,” he decided. He looked at Alice once more. “Please, continue.”</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Things were good, for a while. Jasper introduced Alice to his parents, and she passed with flying colors.</p>
<p>He took her to the local bar to meet Peter and Charlotte, and although she didn’t drink, she was easily accepted in their little group. She talked about fashion and photography with Charlotte. She challenged Peter to foosball or darts and managed to beat him every time. Her happiness was contagious, and Jasper made sure he was always at her side.</p>
<p>Jasper had gotten used to her strange knowledge about things she wasn’t supposed to know. She could tell him when to bring an umbrella, which came in handy from time to time. She was gifted in making conversation with neighbors, family members and even strangers. When she asked about details in their lives, they just assumed Jasper talked about them often, which boosted the ego of everyone involved.</p>
<p>Alice’s family was warm and welcoming. He could clearly see where Alice got her no-drinking-policy from and her little brother was a judgy little thing, but Jasper could be charming when he wanted to. Emmett knew how to have fun and Rosalie, despite rolling her eyes at all his stories, smiled whenever she thought no one was looking.</p>
<p>Yes, things were fine for a while.</p>
<p>Until they weren’t.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t drink that,” she said as Peter put another glass of whiskey in front of him. Charlotte and Peter shared a quick look and excused themselves.</p>
<p>“And why not?” Jasper asked.</p>
<p>She closed her eyes for just a moment. “You’ll get angry if I tell you.”</p>
<p>Why would he get angry? She had to have a very good reason, right? Otherwise she wouldn’t stop him from doing something he liked. She was The One. They weren’t going to fight or disagree. She wouldn’t try to change him like Maria used to. That was the wonderful thing about being soulmates. Everything was always fine.</p>
<p>He looked across the room, where Peter and Charlotte were playing darts together. He could hear their drunken laughs all the way from his seat. Everything was fine with them as well, but somehow, their ‘fine’ seemed so much better.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you drink?” He asked once more. He already knew the answer. <em>Don’t like to lose control</em>.</p>
<p>She surprised him. “Alcohol changes a person. I don’t like who I become.”</p>
<p>“And what about who I become?”</p>
<p>She didn’t reply.</p>
<p>Jasper took his drink, finished it and put the empty glass in front of her. “Too bad.”</p>
<p>The next day he awoke with a throbbing head in a holding cell with a new charge for aggravated assault. He didn’t even know who he hit. It wasn’t fair, he thought. Just because he always won fights, he was the one that ended up in a cell the next morning. The loser got the comfort of a hospital room. When he had complained about that to Maria, she always had the same reply. <em>Life isn’t fair.</em></p>
<p>What would Alice say?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“All is forgiven,” she said when he returned home.</p>
<p>He didn’t say a thing. </p>
<p><em>Of course </em>she forgave him. They were soulmates. That was what soulmates were supposed to do. They weren’t going to fight. There were no such things as disagreements between them. There couldn’t be. They were universe-approved. Everything was fine.</p>
<p>He thought of Maria. She would have screamed and yelled and cursed when he pulled a stunt like this. They would fight and he would slam doors and after a day or so they would make up. They would talk it out. And the next time one of them screwed up, it would start all over again.</p>
<p>It was easier with Alice. It was better.</p>
<p>But why, he wondered, did it feel worse?</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“Where is your Soulmate?” Maria asked. She sat on the barstool next to him, ordering a drink with a small gesture of her fingers. “Trouble in paradise?”</p>
<p>“Of course not,” Jasper said. He couldn’t complain. Alice was everything he could ask for. She was loving and supportive. She woke him up every day with a smile and a kiss. Everything was fine.</p>
<p>He was happy.</p>
<p>“Then why are you here alone?”</p>
<p>Jasper shrugged. Alice didn’t join him as often as she used to. He didn’t know why exactly. She hadn’t told him and didn’t feel like asking. It didn’t really matter anyway. She’d be there when he got home. Even if he wouldn’t come home tonight, she’d still be waiting. “We’re soulmates,” he said. “We’re not inseparable.”</p>
<p>“You used to be. For a while.” Maria held out her hand and the barman offered the drink she’d ordered. “Did you get bored with her already?”</p>
<p>“Of course not. Everything is fine.”</p>
<p>Maria took a sip of her drink. Jasper took a sip of his. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the woman in front of him. They had been together Before, but now – what were they? Exes, of course, but it felt like something more. Would he have stayed with her if it weren’t for The One?</p>
<p>“Why haven’t you tried to find Yours?”</p>
<p>She laughed and twirled the drink in her hand before putting it down on the bar.</p>
<p>“You what’s the problem with The One?” She leaned in and whispered the answer in his ear: “It takes all the fun out of it.”</p>
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